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So how do the "wishes" work in this format, i.e. Cunning Wish, Burning Wish, etc? I know in other formats they limit your searching range to your sideboard, so how does it work in Highlander? Can I really "wish" for ANY card (of the appropriate type) in my collection?

Hello all, I'm new to the Highlander format. I built my first deck recently, without consulting the banned list (my mistake). I decided I wanted to build a reanimator deck because it's one of my favorite archetypes.

So I sat down to play against a friend of mine, whom has been playing Highlander for a while now. Imagine my surprise when I played a Buried Alive and he told me that it was banned! He didn't know why, so I did a quick Google search, found this site and searched the forums for the answer.

So it seems that the combo is using Buried Alive to get Kiki-Jiki, Pestermite, and Karmic Guide. Then use any reanimate card to get back Karmic Guide, then Kiki-Jiki, then copy Karmic Guide to get Pestermite, untap Kiki-Jiki, copy Pestermite, rinse, repeat for infinite Pestermites with Haste. WOW! Cool combo! But the problem, to me, doesn't seem like it's Buried Alive, it's Kiki-Jiki! So why did Buried Alive get the shaft? Is there something else I'm missing?

While searching for my Buried Alive answer, I realized that Dread Return is also banned. This one I don't care as much about, but still seems like an unnecessary banning. Seems like there is a similar combo to the above one where you use Hermit Druid to mill your whole deck, flash back some cards to make cheap creatures (Chatter of the Squirrel and/or Acorn Harvest), then sac them to flash back Dread Return for what I assume is the Karmic Guide/Kiki-Jiki/Pestermite combo.

So you might see why I'm a little confused here. In these two combos, Buried Alive and Hermit Druid accomplish the same task: getting those three creatures in the graveyard. So why is Buried Alive banned and not Hermit Druid? But even better, why not just ban Kiki-Jiki? Then this combo wouldn't even exist, and we would be free to unban Buried Alive and Dread Return, which are so vital to a reanimator deck. If you're a good Magic player, you know that two-for-one is always a good trade!

One final comment/question: If we leave the banned list the way it is, Kiki-Jiki and Pestermite still exist in the format. Are we going to ban every card that lets you get the two of them out quickly? I'm sure there are a million ways of doing it already.

I look forward to your response. Thanks.